Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that is commonly used for guiding the construction and delivery of instruction intended to support all students. In this study, we used a related model to guide creation of a multimedia-based instructional tool called content acquisition podcasts (CAPs). CAPs delivered vocabulary instruction…

The ubiquitous use of Internet-based mobile devices in educational contexts means that mobile learning has become a plausible alternative to or a good complement for conventional classroom-based teaching. However, there is a lack of research that explores and defines the characteristics and effects of mobile language learning (LL) through language…

In Europe there is a growing concern among educators and policy makers that students are not well-prepared to start a Master programme. This study draws on longitudinal research conducted at four universities in the Netherlands and a follow-up exploratory purposively chosen from one of the study sites. In Study 1, differences in academic…

This study uses a moving windows self-paced reading task to assess both text comprehension and processing time of authentic texts and these same texts simplified to beginning and intermediate levels. Forty-eight second language learners each read 9 texts (3 different authentic, beginning, and intermediate level texts). Repeated measures ANOVAs…

This project was designed to try to investigate the difficulties EFL learners would have in learning to use hedging as a rhetorical device in academic writing. The participants were 136 native Cantonese-speaking EFL students who enrolled in the one-year course "English for Academic Purposes" offered by a language centre at a university…

This mixed methods study examines 126 community college students enrolled in developmental reading courses at a mid-sized Southwestern community college. These students participated in a survey-based study regarding their reading experiences and practices, social influence upon those practices, reading sponsorship, and reading self-efficacy. The…

Many people in Spain are studying English in order to find jobs in this country or to migrate as a result of the economic crisis. Language classes, however, are limited in duration and are often not enough to enable students to progress as much as they would like to. Language learners have to spend a considerable amount of time out of class…

The Behaviors of Learning and Teaching Continuum (BLT) defines key characteristics of student and adult learning and teaching practice within Linked Learning pathways. It illustrates how these behaviors and actions might be observed both inside and beyond the classroom.

To effectively provide early interventions to children, identifying those who are in need of these interventions is essential. In India, several problems hinder the process of early identification, including a lack of standardized measures for assessment. This study investigates the utility of the Bracken School Readiness Assessment, Third Edition…

There is abundant educational research indicating that graphic organisers (knowledge maps, concept maps, or mind maps) have a beneficial impact on learning, but hardly any research has examined this in the context of presentations. This study therefore investigated how graphic organisers -- as delivered via presentation software -- affect learning…

This article presents an evaluation of a new upper secondary Earth and Environmental Science (EES) course in Western Australia. Twenty-seven EES teachers were interviewed and 243 students were surveyed about the degree of difficulty, relevance and interest of EES topics in the course. The impact of the course on students' views about EES topics…

Animation has an inherent advantage over static graphics when presenting dynamic content because it provides a more accurate and realistic depiction. Simultaneously, animation has an inherent disadvantage because most animated information is perceptually transient. In this quasi-experimental study, cognitive load theory was used to investigate the…

This study investigated whether arrow-line cues can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of learning in a mobile device supported learning environment on leaf morphology of plants, either with or without the use of real plants. A cued and un-cued condition, in which primary school students used text and pictures on a tablet PC, were compared…

The present study explores the use of conjunctions in simple versus complex argumentative tasks performed by second language (L2) learners as a specific measure for the amount of reasoning involved in task performance. The Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson, 2005) states that an increase in cognitive task complexity promotes improvements in L2…

This article describes an intelligent, integrated, web-based school for tutoring expansion and factoring of algebraic expressions. It provides full support for the management of the usual teaching tasks in a traditional school: Student and teacher registration, creation and management of classes and test papers, individualized assignment of…